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Exhibit Honors Pioneering Gay Candidate

Exhibit Honors Pioneering Gay Candidate

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Before Elaine Noble, Allan Spear, and Harvey Milk, there was Jose Julio Sarria -- believed to be the first openly gay candidate to run for public office anywhere in the world and now the subject of an exhibit at the San Francisco GLBT History Museum.

Sarria ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961, 16 years before Milk became the first out gay candidate to win a post on that body. Although Sarria did not win the election, by receiving 5,600 votes he demonstrated that there was a gay voting bloc in the city, the museum notes. Sarria was also a popular drag performer at the city's Black Cat bar.

The exhibit, which includes many of Sarria's campaign materials, runs through January 1.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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